The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (Paperback)

Middle Grade Fiction - Historical - Family - Emmigration & Immigration - Ages 8-12

Published: 4/23/2019

A 2019 NEWBERY HONOR BOOK

"A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults."-Kirkus, starred review

In the vein of Inside Out and Back Again and The War That Saved My Life comes a poignant, personal, and hopeful tale of India's partition, and of one girl's journey to find a new home in a divided country

It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.

Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.

Told through Nisha's letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl's search for home, for her own identity...and for a hopeful future.

"Veera Hiranandani is a master storyteller. This riveting and important book speaks to the power of love in a world divided by hate and raises questions that still need to be asked seventy years after its events took place. Nisha and her story are a part of me now. My question is how do we make this a 'community read' for the whole world?"--James Howe, author of The Misfits

AUTHOR BIO: 

Veera Hiranandani, author of the Newbery Honor-winning The Night Diary, earned her MFA in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of The Whole Story of Half a Girl, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a South Asia Book Award finalist, and How to Find What You're Not Looking For, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the New York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize. A former editor at Simon & Schuster, she now teaches in the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA Program at The Vermont College of Fine Arts.

John Newberry Medal, 2019
2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Award
2018 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature[TN1]
A New York Times Editor's Choice Pick
Georgia Children's Book Award 2019-2020 Nominee
Camellia Children's Choice Book Award Nominee ALABAMA 2021-2022
Malka Penn Book Award Winner CONNECTICUT 2018
Nutmeg Book Award CONNECTICUT Nominee 2021
Georgia Children's Book Award GEORGIA Nominee 2019-2020
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award ILLINOIS Master List 2020
Young Hoosier Book Award INDIANA Nominee 2020-2021
William Allen White Children's Book Award KANSAS Reading List 2020-2021
Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award LOUISIANA Nominee 2020-2021
Maine Student Book Award 2019-2020 Master List
Massachusetts Children's Book Award MASSACHUSETTS Nominee 2020-2021
Great Lakes Great Books MICHIGAN Nominee 2020-2021
Mark Twain Readers Award MISSOURI Nominee 2020-2021
Great Stone Face Book Award NEW HAMPSHIRE Nominee 2019-2020
Garden State Book Award NEW JERSEY Nominee 2021
Oregon Reader's Choice Award (ORCA) OREGON Nominee 2021
Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award PENNSYLVANIA Nominee 2020-2021
South Carolina Book Awards SOUTH CAROLINA Nominee 2020-2021
Volunteer State Book Award TENNESSEE Nominee 2020-2021
Lone Star Reading List TEXAS Reading List 2019
Beehive Book Award UTAH Nominee 2020
Just One More Page! WISCONSIN Reading List 2019
ILA 2019 Teachers' Choices Reading List
2019 Jane Addams Honor Book in the Books for Older Children Category
A Best Book of the Year by Amazon
A Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews
A Best Book of the Year by The New York Times
A Best Book of the Year by NPR
A Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal
A Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post